Young Henry’s has challenged big beer brands across Australia, first with its craft brew and now in its bold advertising stance.
In a new ad campaign, Young Henry’s sarcastically apologises to women for having never created a marekting campaign or product on the basis of gender.
The spot pokes fun at the fuscia fantasyland of femininity that brands so often try to appeal to with pink razors and pink pens.
The ad was created for the annual Good Beer Week event and Young Henry’s was given the brief to create ‘Beer Ads for Women’.
“Women drink beer for the same reasons that men do. Why do they need a pink coloured can?” questioned marketing manager Andy Miller.
“Over the last 12 months everyone from Doritos to other beer companies to the products featured in the ad have tried so hard to market to women and to show they are relevant but I think in a lot of cases, they’ve failed.”
In 2016, Heineken launched a 'gender neutral beer' and in February Johnnie Walker renamed itself Jane Walker to appeal to more women.
The ad, which was created by female led production company Unko, mockingly launches a “lady beer”, but Miller says Young Henry’s will never target a particular gender.
“We’ve reached peak lady ads so we thought it was time for someone to hold up a mirror to it and parody it in a playful, positive way and show its utter BS,” he says.
If you take a look back at the advertising history of brands like Tooheys and VB, they all fit a certain criteria and aesthetic, Miller explains.
“There hasn’t been much difference between beers traditionally,” he says.
“Typically they spend loads of money on epic, creative and quite funny ads. I love the Big Ad, and some of the other ads by big companies have been entertaining but I think society has moved beyond that shallow messaging and are looking for a brand that stands for something and has something to say.”
Purpose has driven Young Henry’s from its humble beginnings five years ago, growing from a beer appreciation club, says Miller.
Today, it is sold in more than 500 venues as well as bottle shops nationally and it’s just hit 70 employees.
It has ridden the rise of craft beers in Australia and challenged mainstream beers like Tooheys and VB, which have faced declining consumption, according to research from Roy Morgan.
Miller, who has previously worked at indie agency Pollen and Ogilvy, says Young Henry’s has avoided “shouting” at people through main broadcast channels, like TV and outdoor, and has instead taken a grass roots strategy, sponsoring local music events, podcasts and community radio station FBI.
“We don’t really like shouting too much so you won’t ever see a Young Henry’s billboard and I can’t see us doing TV in the foreseeable future,” he says.
“Beer companies traditionally have spoken about being the best and having the best ingredients. We think it’s a given you make good beer, so we tend not to talk about that, instead we put energy into finding likeminded people and organisations that we can get involved with.”
The brand also relies heavily on social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, where it is pushing its new ‘Lady Beer’ ad.
“We aren’t parachuting Young Henry’s into events that don’t fit our purpose. We are actively part of the community and that’s the critical difference between how some bigger brands talk community and how we relate to it,” Miller says.
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